George Eliot | Page 9

other thinkers of his cast of
thought, and some traces of this early sympathy are to be seen in her
books. On his second visit to England Emerson spent a day or two at
the house of Charles Bray, with whose writings he had previously
become acquainted. Emerson was much impressed with the personality
of Marian Evans, and more than once said to Bray, "That young lady
has a calm, serious soul." When Emerson asked her somewhat suddenly,
"What one book do you like best?" she at once replied, "Rousseau's
Confessions." She cherished this acquaintance with Emerson, and held
him in grateful remembrance through life.
The painful experiences of this period are undoubtedly reflected in
another of her autobiographic poems, that entitled "Self and Life." She
speaks of the profound influence the past had over her mind, and that
her hands and feet were still tiny when she began to know the historic
thrill of contact with other ages. She also makes Life say to Self, in
regard to her pain and sorrow:
But all thy anguish and thy discontent Was growth of mine, the
elemental strife Towards feeling manifold with vision blent To wider
thought: I was no vulgar life That like the water-mirrored ape, Not
discerns the thing it sees, Nor knows its own in others' shape, Railing,
scorning, at its ease. Half man's truth must hidden lie If unlit by
sorrow's eye. I by sorrow wrought in thee Willing pain of ministry.
The intellectual surroundings of Marian Evans at this time gave shape
to her whole after-life. There were now laid the foundations of her
mode of thinking, and her philosophic theories began to be formed. It
was in the home of one of her friends she learned to think for herself,

and it was there her positivist doctrines first appeared. Charles Bray
was affected by the transcendental movement, and was an ardent
admirer of Newman, Emerson and others among its leaders. This
interest prepared him, as it has so many other minds, for the acceptance
of those speculative views which were built up on the foundation of
science when the transcendental movement began to wane. The
transcendental doctrines of unity, the oneness of mind and matter, the
evolution of all forms of life and being from the lowest, the universal
dominion of law and necessity, and the profound significance of nature
in its influence on man, as they were developed by Goethe, Schelling,
Carlyle and Emerson, gave direction to a new order of speculation,
which had its foundations in modern science.
Bray was an ardent phrenologist, and in 1832 published a work on The
Education of the Feelings, based on phrenological principles. In 1841
appeared his main work, The Philosophy of Necessity; this was
followed several years later by a somewhat similar work, On Force, its
Mental and Moral Correlates. His philosophy was summarized in a
volume published in 1871, which was entitled A Manual of
Anthropology. He also wrote pamphlets on "Illusion and Delusion,"
"The Reign of Law," "Toleration," and "Christianity." In his work on
necessity he promulgated very many of those ideas which have formed
so prominent a part of the philosophy of George Eliot. The dominion of
law, the reign of necessity, experience as the foundation of knowledge,
humanity as an organism that develops a larger life for man by the aid
of experience and tradition,--these are among the doctrines of the book.
There is every reason for believing that in the teachings of Charles
Bray, Marian Evans found many of the main elements of her
philosophy, and with his aid her opinions were largely shaped.
Mrs. Bray was also a woman of large intelligence, and of a mind freely
open to new theories. She wrote a Physiology for Schools and a
school-book on Duties to Animals, which have been well received by
the public and used as text books in the schools of the Midland counties.
In 1882 she published a little book on the Elements of Morality,
consisting of a series of easy lessons for Unitarian Sunday schools and
for home teaching. To the Brays, Marian Evans owed much in the way

of sympathy, culture and direct influence. Perhaps more than any other
persons they gave tone and direction to her mind. One who knew them
has said, "Besides being a practical as well as theoretical philanthropist,
Mr. Bray was also a courageous impugner of the dogmas which form
the basis of the popular theology. Mrs. Bray shared in this general
largeness of thought, while perhaps more in sympathy with the fairer
aspects of Christianity."
A brother and a sister of Mrs. Bray's, Charles C. Hennell and Sara S.
Hennell, also had a large influence on Marian Evans during this period.
It was Charles Hennell who induced her to translate Strauss, and it